ELLE's creative director transforms his obsession with the rebellious art form into everyday style

For the record, I've never vandalized or defaced anything in my life (not even a notebook during eighth-grade math). I credit this partly to my compulsive need to keep everything pristine. But to be honest, I'm also just not interested in doing anything I don't think I'd be very good at.

I won't lie—being a rebel does have a titillating aura about it, but the actual thought of having to scale a fence with a can of spray paint to ink my calling card is a turnoff. I know I would hate the finished product (and wouldn't have time to polish in fear of being busted by the cops). Instead, I express myself in a different form, as a stylist and editor.

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Which brings me to the subject of art. Street art, to be exact. Earlier this year, my assistant turned me on to this brilliant documentary/possible elaborate hoax, Exit Through the Gift Shop, made by Banksy, the famed incognito British street artist who goes to great lengths to keep his identity hidden (he's sort of like the Martin Margiela of the art realm). It's an intriguing, humorous wink about the rise of street art told through the eyes of a French immigrant living in L.A. who becomes an overnight success under the pseudonym Mr. Brainwash and poses interesting questions about the validity of Banksy's and his fellow artists' work. After watching the film, I realized similar questions are asked in the fashion world: Do we recognize the veteran fashion journalist, or is the blogger the new critic? Do we value the quick turnaround of H&M fashion or the long-established craft of couture? Is it all about the girl on the runway or the girl on the street?

The answers, for me, are quite simple: Both. Banksy may not be Picasso, but the demand is there: A recent piece of his sold at auction for roughly $500,000. Today, street art has become the indie go-to statement, not unlike street style. At the shows I attend, more photographers are snapping pics off the runway than on—all in an effort to capture the editors or bloggers themselves who exude nonchalant effortless style, with endless websites dedicated to their personas (not to mention their shoes).

This month, Banksy and his contemporaries (Mr. Brainwash, Shepard Fairey, etc.) serve as my inspiration. Drawing from the resort collections, I've reinterpreted runway looks into street-style looks, using pieces from my new favorite art genre as backdrops. In other words, think of these clothes as my spray can.